The Tampa Bay Lightning dismantled the Toronto Maple Leafs on ‘Hockey Night In Canada,’ with Nikita Kucherov stealing the show, inching closer to another Art Ross Trophy and improving his quest for the Hart Trophy in the process.
TORONTO - It was the Nikita Kucherov show when the Tampa Bay Lightning visited the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. In a 5-2 victory for the Bolts, Kucherov recorded his 100th point of the year with a four-point outing.
He becomes the third player this season to reach the 100-point mark, doing so for the fourth-straight season and the sixth time of his 12-year career.
“It’s poetry on ice watching him play,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of Kucherov after the game. “I’ve been fortunate to have a front-row seat to this for almost a decade.”
Kucherov, 32, has plenty of hardware under his belt. He has two Stanley Cups, a Hart Trophy and a pair of Ted Lindsay Awards. The Bolts’ right winger also has three Art Ross Trophies, two of which came in the last two campaigns.
He’s third in the NHL in points, three points behind Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon and six behind the leader, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid. That means he’s not far away from claiming his third straight Art Ross at the end of this regular season.
Outside of McDavid achieving a three-peat of Art Ross Trophies, just before Kucherov won his in 2024, no player has won three in a row since Jaromir Jagr in 2000.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Tampa Bay left winger Brandon Hagel said. “In my opinion, (he’s) the best player in the world. He shows it by his work ethic, he shows it by his play. It’s a privilege to play with him.”
Nikita Kucherov has scored 32 goals and 100 points in 57 games, ranking first in points per game (1.75) among all NHL players. (James Guillory-Imagn Images)"There are world-class players in this league, I just had a couple over in Milan,” Cooper said. “They play a different style than Nikita. He plays a fast game, but he has the ability to slow the whole thing down.”
“It’s almost like he’s teaching a class,” the Lightning’s bench boss added.
It always seems as if Kucherov flies under the radar across the NHL. However, his talent and ability are not lost on his teammates or coach.
“If he played (in Toronto) there would probably be a lot more attention,” Hagel joked. “This guy’s generational. I haven’t seen many players like this in my entire life, it’s impressive.”
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